When Democrats won back both houses of Congress in 2006, they did so on a platform centered mainly on the Iraq war. When Democratic (and the odd Republican) started running for the Presidency, it was a contest to see who could be the most apologetic about supporting the war, or who had opposed the war the longest, or who could get us out the fastest. This centered around the theory that the Iraq war would remain unpopular, that the situation would continue to go downhill, and that casualties and attacks in Iraq would remain very high. So far, not a single one of those things has happened. Attacks and deaths are down, support of the war is up, and now, a new poll (conducted by, of all groups, the BBC) shows that a majority of Iraqis now say that their life is going well, and that local security is “good”. The poll:

Is Your Life Going Well?

Yes: 55% (up 16% since August)

How is Local Security?

Good: 62% (up 19% since August)

If those numbers weren’t good enough, the number of Iraqis who believe that the situation will be better in a year has doubled, up from just 23% in August to nearly half now. In fact, according to some polls, Iraqis are more optimistic than Americans about the situation in their respective countries.